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Miscellaneous
/ 4 months agoNick Cain: Nations Championship gets off to a humdinger of a start
The Nations Championship naysayers – and there is an army of them – should take a look at the competition’s inaugural...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher watches six Nations Championship Tests in one day – here’s what happened
Brendan Gallagher settled down to watch six Nations Championship Test matches in a row. How did he find it? And did...
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Features
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: Louis Bielle-Biarrey leading a race to hit a century
Peter Jackson sees the French flyer reach 92 tries in his career so far as he takes a break ahead of...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 months agoChris Hewett: Champions Cup revamp sounds good to me
The most predictable story of the week concerned yet another revamp of the much-maligned, used-and-abused Champions Cup, which was once the...
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Features
/ 4 months agoPaul Rees: Top 14 shows us how it’s done
Paul Rees looks back on Toulouse’s victory over Montpellier in the Top 14 final – and what it can teach the...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The time when Eddie Jones was on fire
Brendan Gallagher looks back on England’s historic 2016 series win in Australia, Eddie Jones’ finest hour and the decisions that shaped...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: Rhys Carre proves the WRU’s 25-cap rule is failing Wales
Peter Jackson examines Wales’ controversial 25-cap rule, Rhys Carre’s rise and whether the policy is helping or harming the national team’s...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Henry Pollock showing us all he’s the real deal
Henry Pollock has silenced the doubters – and he's only just getting started. Brendan Gallagher explains why England have a special...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: Anton Segner – The German loving life as an All Black
Anton Segner’s All Blacks call-up highlights rugby’s global reach as Peter Jackson explores the Nations Championship’s multinational squads.
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 months agoChris Hewett: When ‘record highs’ can be low on quality
Chris Hewett questions whether rugby’s growing number of one-sided finals and record scorelines signal a sport in danger of tipping the...
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Autumn Internationals
/ 4 months agoPaul Rees: Nations Championship – North take on South in the battle for supremacy
Paul Rees previews World Rugby’s new 12-team tournament, the Nations Championship, which kicks off next weekend.
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoJeremy Guscott: England should give Maro Itoje a break – and no argument
Jeremy Guscott argues England should end the uncertainty and give Maro Itoje a summer rest after a demanding year for club...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoNick Cain: England still making the same mistakes
Nick Cain says England’s drab defeat to France exposed the same flaws that derailed their Six Nations campaign, leaving Steve Borthwick...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: It was a fitting end to James Lowe’s Ireland odyssey
Peter Jackson reflects on James Lowe’s emotional Leinster farewell, the contract dispute that ended his Ireland career and the challenge of...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoNick Cain: Selling the soul of the ‘greatest rivalry’
Nick Cain questions the decision to stage the final South Africa v New Zealand Test in Baltimore, USA, arguing tradition and...
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Features
/ 4 months agoPaul Rees: Why Bath have many questions to answer
Paul Rees says Bath’s defeat to Exeter Chiefs was the biggest setback Johann van Graan has suffered since taking charge.
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Features
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: Paul Gustard pulls Stade Francais out of the red zone
Peter Jackson names the guilty – and not-so-guilty – when it comes to red, orange and yellow cards dished out this...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 months agoChris Hewett: Wayne Smith’s ‘new lab’ will be a revelation
Wayne Smith’s return to coaching is a welcome boost for rugby. Chris Hewett explains why the game still needs its great...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Exeter Chiefs’ revival an example to us all
Brendan Gallagher examines Exeter Chiefs’ remarkable revival and asks why Test coaches so often insist successful rebuilds must take years.
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Jeremy Guscott
/ 4 months agoJeremy Guscott: Why I’m right behind this new Nations Championship
The Nations Championship, which will be contested by the world’s top tier international teams for the first time this year, is...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoNick Cain: ‘Project Shaun Edwards’ must be activated
In the last week, in the absence of any formal statement from the French Federation de Rugby (FFR), or France head...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoNick Cain: Super Northampton Saints at their swashbuckling best
Justice was done at a packed Franklin’s Gardens on Friday night when Northampton, the best team in the league over the...
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Features
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: Once again, Bordeaux are leaders of the attendance pack
During a season when the Pied Pipers of Bordeaux raised their average crowd towards an all-time high of 35,000, Leinster found...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 months agoChris Hewett: Is Rugby World Cup expansion over-ambitious?
It would be nice to think that at some point this side of eternity, rugby will have created sufficient depth at...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 months agoChris Hewett: It could be a golden age for our best refs in World Rugby
Good news from the shop window: rugby is doing right by its referees by picking the right referees.
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Peter Jackson
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: From death row to a born-again belief for the Ospreys
A sporting city which witnessed a team composed almost entirely of local cricketers beat Australia, not once but twice in the...
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Peter Jackson
/ 4 months agoGiorgi boy is setting a high bar for try scoring
GIORGI Melikidze did something in Paris a fortnight ago which barely caused as much as a ripple on this side of...
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Peter Jackson
/ 4 months agoFijian lock shows how to finish in style
THE botched contract deal which gave James Lowe a yen for joining Suntory Goliath instead of staying in Ireland on a...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoMy 15 to follow had some hits – but selection’s a tough game
THE regular season is done and it’s time to quickly review my eclectic 15 to follow which I offered up back...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Premiership Bonus point system just plain nonsense
I did take one last lingering look at the table this week to lodge it in my shell for recall if...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoPaul Williams: I, for one, am glad South African teams are in the URC
Paul Williams argues the presence of South African teams has improved the URC and that Welsh rugby’s problems run far deeper...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoNick Cain: RFU must move fast to sign up Shaun Edwards for England
Whether Shaun Edwards is in the process of disentangling himself from a French Federation contract which extends until 2028, or is...
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Features
/ 4 months agoPaul Rees: Will England grab the man of steel, Shaun Edwards?
Paul Rees considers whether Shaun Edwards may end up on Steve Borthwick’s staff if he parts company with France...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoJeremy Guscott: The rise of Bath is down to Roger Spurrell
The respect and affection for Roger Spurrell that has poured out since it was announced the inspirational former Bath captain and...
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Chris Hewett
/ 4 months agoChris Hewett: Yes, Nick, Afolabi Fasogbon deserves his chance with England
Chris Hewett argues England are missing a World Cup opportunity by overlooking Gloucester prop Afolabi Fasogbon, whose rise could provide Steve...
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Columnists
/ 4 months agoPeter Jackson: Stewart McKinney recalls his great old pal Fergus Slattery
Peter Jackson shares Stewart McKinney’s poignant memories of Fergus Slattery and the devastating toll dementia took on the Ireland and Lions...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 4 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Longer seasons don’t give us much in return
Brendan Gallagher argues that rugby’s domestic season has become longer despite featuring fewer meaningful matches than in the early years of...
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoJeremy Guscott: It’s time for Fin Smith to run England from No.10
Here’s my England backline to face South Africa in Johannesburg on July 4, based on current form and availability.
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoNick Cain: Afo Fasogbon deserves to be in Steve Borthwick’s England squad
Afo Fasogbon’s omission from the England training squad for this summer’s Nations Cup is a glaring oversight in an era in...
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Features
/ 5 months agoPaul Rees: Ireland’s big boys must stand up after European heartache
Paul Rees says last weekend’s ‘European’ finals proved a chastening experience for Leinster and Ulster.
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 months agoChris Hewett: A fine French feast that could feed us all
Chris Hewett examines why French club rugby is becoming the game’s biggest attraction, and asks whether more supporters are turning to...
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoPeter Jackson: Applaud the Chapman family’s lasting legacy
The heavenly grapevine has been abuzz all week with rumours of a dearly departed RFU president dancing in the celestial streets...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: Success in Europe not all about the money
The European finals in sweltering Bilbao proved to be a humbling weekend for Irish sides with both Ulster and Leinster taking...
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoJames Harrington: France boss Fabien Galthié looks close to giving Shaun Edwards le chop
Fabien Galthié is on the brink of making a major change to his coaching set-up ahead of their Nations Championship challenge,...
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoJeremy Guscott: For me, Max Ojomoh’s absence from Steve Borthwick’s England squad is strange
The selection of Bristol Bears’ South African-born centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg for England’s first Nations Championship training squad is a...
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoNick Cain: England are unbalanced – both on and off the field
Steve Borthwick’s England squads get stranger by the minute, whether you are looking at player selection, or that of his coaching...
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Chris Hewett
/ 5 months agoChris Hewett: When fresh ambition takes on old rivalries
World Rugby moves at a pace best described as geological – in a footrace with continental drift, the non-governing governing body...
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Features
/ 5 months agoPaul Rees: Max Ojomoh’s mystery absence is in need of an answer
Paul Rees wonders why Bath centre Max Ojomoh is not in the England squad as Steve Borthwick opts for Benhard Janse...
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Columnists
/ 5 months agoPeter Jackson: Flood of tries may put Noah on alert
The muggings committed in recent rounds on a multiple basis ridicule the competition’s avowed aim of being ‘the most competitive’ league...
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Brendan Gallagher
/ 5 months agoBrendan Gallagher: The day Scott Hastings proved he was a great team player
All the tributes to Scott Hasting have included mention of his bubbling personality and constant positivity at all times and I...
Autumn Internationals
Ben Spencer targets 2027 Rugby World Cup place with England after surgery
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